The Winnetka Plan

I started reading this book called Winnetka, The History and Significance of an Educational Experiment. My mom went to school in Winnetka and graduated from New Trier in 1968 so she was a product of that educational system. I am always entreagued by her exceptional education. This book was written in 1963 and is currently out of print (but available through ILL). It is fascinating!!! It details how Winnetka was doing stuff that most district are just getting to now in the 1920's. They were the model and designers for much of the leading edge of educational change. It is a fabulous read. RtI? Individualized education? Inclusion? Collaboration? It was all there from an early start. If you have time to read it I highly recommend it. For a book that has lots of stats and some outdated formats, the model of how they did what they did and how they got teachers, parents and the community on board is remarkable.

Worth looking into.

Instructional Strategies

Our topic and readings this week have to do with instructional strategies and collaboration. The overall idea is that we need to make the connections with teachers in any way we can and we need to be willing to try various methods to reach our peers. What will work with some will not work with others. Having multiple tools to present to teachers and more importantly the ability to show how the tools will work for them is key to making the connections work. As I read chapter 9 on technology and chapter 11 on leadership I was so glad I went to the ISLMA workshop last week on web 2.0 and I-SAIL. both of those were direct ties to this topic.

As we all know, the I-SAIL document is all about collaboration and showing how library and classroom standards can be met in unison by the librarian and the classroom teacher. The second half of the day was a presentation by Erin and Katie Kirsch about their top 20 web 2.0 tools. Some of these we are already familiar with from Dominican but many were new to me or the way they were used or shown had new possibilities for me or my staff. I could see how these could be the in I needed to work on collaboration with some holdouts. Katie has this great blog she is starting for her staff based on the 23 things 2.0 model. It is a great idea I plan to start with my staff this year too.

Here is the link to the conference notes from last week.
http://islma20.wikispaces.com/

Then click on the Summer 2009 Workshop tab on the left side toolbar.

Information Forensics Goes to School

For the virtual class, I watched the 1 hour session, Information Forensics Goes to School.  It was a presentation at the 2009 NECC conference by Carle Heine and Dennis O'Connor.  The focus of their talk was about searching and how students go about it.  The idea that todays students search differently than we older folks do and that their approach is limited.  They don't have a natural knack for it.  It needs to be taught.  We as educators need to focus on teaching this skill and reinforcing that they need to think about not just one way to search.  For every one search term they come up with there are at least 4 more they are missing (synonyms).  While I thought that the lecture or presentation was interesting and the two were entertaining, they kept my attention the seminar should have been longer to really get into what the presenters were trying to say.  If you went to their web site though you got some really great resources.  They had tutorials, lesson plans and materials that can be used by educators in the classroom with students middle school age and up.  This was the most useful part of the presentation.  I will definitely use those resources with my students this fall when I return to work.  I teach a research class to the middle school and searching, authenticating and citing are always things students struggle with.  This was a great resource I will use and share with my colleagues. 

Reading pages 9-35

This weeks reading in Gail Bush's book, Every Student Reads, I felt was really primary.  I thought that most of what was covered was stuff that most educators should already know.  But I have been a classroom teacher and specifically a reading and Language Arts teacher for my entire teaching career prior to the library.  The book is a publication of the AASL so it is clearly aimed at the school librarian.  I guess I have always assumed that most librarians in schools come from an education background. Started out as teachers and moved to the library in the school setting.  This book is clearly aimed a librarians that have not followed that path or perhaps the librarian that started at a very different grade level and is now moving to the primary or middle school setting.  I think the information is good for librarians that have never been in that setting before or for perhaps librarians that are really out of it and need to update their skills and communicate with peers and students. I think it would have merit for someone in one of those situations.  While all of the check marks are not for every school or situation or librarian, there are at least 1/3 that can be used for your situation from each section.   As I read it I just kept thinking most of this is stuff I already do or already know.  Best practices, professional development and professional workshops have kept me pretty well up to date along with working on my MLS at Dominican.  Did anyone else have similar feelings about this reading or am I all alone here?

This weeks readings started with chapters 3-4 discussing literacy and reading.  I found the debate interesting and one I could relate to.  I have had a conversation with 1st grade teachers about forcing kids to check out books that are at their reading level.  I see middle school students each week and constantly look for new ways to keep them engaged or get them hooked.  The one interesting thing I kind of felt was missing from this section of reading was the middle grades (3rd -5th).  This is the age that is typically referenced when discussing the drop off in reading for boys or the time when we begin to see kids not like reading or call themselves non-readers.  That age groups is one of my biggest challenges as a librarian.  I feel like I have to work twice as hard to keep them all engaged.  I was disappointed that the text didn't address this group as their own chapter as they did with the MS students in chapter 4.  I would love to hear what those of you that work with 3rd -5th grade do to keep this group engaged.  I am always looking for new ideas to try or something out of the ordinary to hook the reluctant readers in the group. 

As I read chapters 5-6 I had to laugh.  It was like reliving the curriculum mapping at work!  The discussion in chapter 6 about teachers giving up the "sacred cows" was just like being at school.  The problem we had is that even though they were to give some up, many still have not.  Our mapping process was also flawed in that people were not always mapping what was actually being taught but instead the scope and sequence of the text or what they thought they should be teaching instead of what they actually were teaching.  You can see how that would be problematic.  In the end, we have a new superintendent now and he has bigger fish to fry so I think our mapping process will just fade away next year.  I am torn on this.  I think that the need for the maps are great.  I think that they serve a great purpose and can provide great insight that the teachers and students will benefit from but only if done correctly and with the proper training.  Teachers need to buy into the process.  If they don't, you end up with the mess we have at my school.  I would like to see how other schools sold the concept better than we did in order to get a good product and good buy in from the staff.  

Interesting readings.  Lots to ponder.  

July 6th, Chapter 1 & 2

I have been in education since 1992 when I graduated with my teaching certificate in elementary education.  I was intrigued to read what Stripling and Hassell had to say and glad to see that I was already practicing some of what they were preaching.  I have been the librarian at my school for the last three years and one of my ongoing goals has been collaboration.  At the end of chapter 2, they briefly list steps in that process.  I have to say from personal experience, it is very difficult.  It has taken a lot of small steps prior to the ones listed in the book to get to the point where I can do the things listed on page 56 and 57 with the teachers in my district.  That being said, there are still teachers that don't want anything to do with collaboration with me or anyone else for that matter.  

Where I work I am required to teach two connections classes to the middle school students. Every summer I look at my curriculum and evaluate what I want to tweak, take out or leave the way it is.  As I read the chapters for this week, those classes were in the back of my mind.  One is a new journalism style communications class and the other is a research class that I have been doing for several years.  I see ways that I can tweak the assignments and inquiry process for both to further student learning and understanding.  Overall, I thought there was good information to be had in the chapters that would really enhance student learning and allow for differentiation in the classrooms with minimal additional effort from the teacher.  The one problem I see is that too many teachers with any longevity or tenure are not willing to give different a try or step out of their comfort zone.